Help please - dried up??

I thought it was a myth but have woken this morning empty!!

I have exclusively BF my DS for over 12 weeks now. For the past few days in the evening he is taking ages to feed. I express at 9.30pm and always get about 150ml and give him a bottle of Ebm but last night only got 70ml and had to top him up and he had a total of 230ml. He has slept through the night since he was 5 weeks. When I wake at 7 I'm usually very full and leaking but this morning they are empty. I expressed to see how much I got get, I only got 20mls!

Is this over for me? I was going to wean in the next few months anyway but I'm really disappointed as it's not on my terms. Why has this happened? How can it happen? Has it happened to anyone else?

I'm using my phone so hopefully this post is ok

You almost certainly haven't dried up, it just seems like it.
Feed him when he is hungry, if he's still hungry then after a little while feed him again - your breasts will make the extra milk he needs.

They are supposed to stop being engorged - your supply has switched from being hormone-driven to demand-driven, which is meant to happen.

And 12 week babies typically are really really hungry - just let him feed very often for a day or so and it will sort itself out.

"Drying up" (the real version, not the apparent one) can happen if you are pregnant, or take pseudoephidrine.

Good luck - the next day may be a feeding frenzy, but you'll get through

Hi,

It's not over unless you want it to be! I'm wondering, how many times is he feeding in 24 hours? Tell me about the pattern of expressing and bottle feeding? In the early days most mums have a relative oversupply, and over time it settles down to meet the babies needs. Some mothers interpret this change as "no milk" - but the way milk supply works is that the more you feed the more you make - that's really all there is. So a day of feeding frequently will rectify things. The amount you can express when you are already anxious 9because you think you've woken up with "no milk" tells you nothing about how much milk you are making, just that you are anxious and stressed.

Expressing doesn't indicate how much milk you have, baby is much more effective at getting milk out than the pump. I'd say your supply has finished being hormone driven and started being demand driven. Offer a feed often and his demand will build up supply.

Thanks.

Barb, he feeds about 5-6 times in 24hrs. At his evening feed around 6ish for the past week he has taken 1.5 hrs to feed and has been really frustrated and I thought maybe he wasn't getting enough. He would go to sleep easily enough eventually. He then gets a bottle of EBM about 10 which I express at 9.30 and always get 150mls approx and he would drink about 120mls. Lately (past week) I've needed to top him up to 230mls. So I'm thinking he hasn't been getting enough during the day. He had his growth spurt 2 weeks ago. His evening feed last night he seemed frustrated and hungry but I persisted, I expressed only 70mls in 45mins and he drank 200. When I woke this morning I could only express 20. I have a medela swing - so a good pump and I've been doing the same thing for about 2 months now. I haven't changed anything, certainly not pregnant

Then I think that you just have to feed him more often for a bit - try every 2 hours during the day if he's awake and whenever he wakes overnight (forget the expressing for a few days if you can), and see how you go.

Hi, there,

5-6 feeds in 24 hours is pretty minimal for a baby that age. (many people are surprised by this information because there is a pervasive myth that babies would only feed 4 hoursly in society - but that really doesn't stand to reason - most adults would feed themselves (water, meals, snacks, coffee) way more often than that - babies are no different) Most babies will feed at least 8-12 times in 24 hours, and this naturally creates peaks in the prolactin leves (the hormone that makes milk) In a 24 hour period most babies will have a cranky and irritable period and they will have a cluster of feeds - 2 or 3 or 4 or more feeds in a two or three hour period. It's OK to feed your baby more often and the more you feed the more milk you will make.